PART 4 — THE SECRET JOSEPHINE HID
“Guilt.”
That was the only word I could think of when I looked at Josephine.
She was holding our twins against her chest, trembling in the darkness.
Daniel stood near the broken window, weapon raised.
“Bennett,” he whispered, “don't ask her anything yet.”
I turned toward him.
“Why?”
“Because whoever made that call wants you angry.”
“I don't care what they want.”
I looked at Josephine.
“I want the truth.”
She closed her eyes.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then she whispered:
“The twins weren't supposed to be born.”
My heart stopped.
“What does that mean?”
Josephine looked down at the babies.
“I found out I was pregnant two weeks after you filed for divorce.”
I remembered that time.
I remembered Josephine begging me to listen.
I remembered throwing her phone onto the table.
I remembered saying:
I don't want to hear another lie.
She had been pregnant then.
And I had walked away.
Josephine continued.
“I called you twenty-seven times that night.”
I swallowed.
“I never got those calls.”
“I know.”
“Who stopped them?”
“Felicity.”
My jaw tightened.
“Then why are you talking like she wasn't the villain?”
“Because she wasn't the only one.”
Daniel suddenly looked toward the door.
“Someone's outside.”
I immediately moved toward Josephine.
Daniel held up one hand.
“Don't move.”
We listened.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Measured.
Someone was walking around the shelter.
Then the footsteps stopped.
A shadow appeared beneath the door.
Josephine covered the twins' mouths gently.
Daniel raised his weapon.
The door handle moved.
Once.
Twice.
Then the entire door exploded inward.
Daniel fired.
The intruder dropped behind the wall.
“RUN!”
Daniel grabbed my shoulder.
“Back exit!”
Josephine ran with the twins.
I followed.
We burst through the rear door and stumbled into the woods.
Branches tore at my clothes.
Josephine was struggling to keep up.
I took one of the babies from her.
“Give him to me.”
“No.”
“Josephine!”
She hesitated.
Then handed me the little boy.
I held him against my chest and ran.
Behind us, another gunshot echoed.
We kept moving until we reached an old maintenance road.
A vehicle was waiting.
Daniel unlocked it.
“Get inside!”
Josephine climbed into the back.
I followed with the baby.
Daniel slammed the doors and accelerated.
For several minutes, nobody spoke.
The twins were crying.
Josephine rocked them gently.
I stared at her.
“You knew.”
She looked up.
“Knew what?”
“That someone was going to come after us.”
Her face went pale.
“No.”
“You knew something was wrong.”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
She looked out the window.
“Since before they were born.”
I felt anger rising.
“You had a year to tell me.”
“I tried.”
“Stop saying that!”
Josephine flinched.
I immediately lowered my voice.
“I'm sorry.”
She shook her head.
“No. You're allowed to be angry.”
“I don't want to be angry.”
“Then what do you want?”
I looked at our son.
“I want to know why my children were hunted before they could even walk.”
Josephine stared at me.
“Because of their blood.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“Your family.”
I laughed bitterly.
“My family isn't royalty.”
“No.”
She looked directly into my eyes.
“It's worse.”
Daniel glanced at us through the rearview mirror.
“Josephine, don't.”
She ignored him.
“Your father built a private financial network decades ago.”
I frowned.
“What kind of network?”
“Accounts. Companies. Trusts. Offshore holdings.”
“So?”
“Your mother discovered that some of those accounts were being used to move money belonging to people who didn't want their names exposed.”
I stared at her.
“What people?”
“Politicians. Corporate executives. Judges.”
Daniel interrupted.
“Enough.”
I turned toward him.
“You knew?”
“I knew some of it.”
“How?”
Daniel's hands tightened around the steering wheel.
“Because I worked for your father.”
I froze.
“You worked for Thomas Carter?”
“Yes.”
“As what?”
Daniel didn't answer.
“Daniel.”
“Security.”
The word hung in the air.
“You were his security?”
“I was more than that.”
“What does that mean?”
Daniel glanced at me.
“It means your father didn't disappear.”
My pulse increased.
“He went underground.”
“Why?”
“Because your mother found something.”
“What?”
Daniel's voice dropped.
“A ledger.”
I looked at Josephine.
She nodded.
“Your mother copied everything.”
“What happened to the original?”
“Your father took it.”
“Why?”
“Because people were already dying.”
I looked down at the baby in my arms.
“Is this why the twins are in danger?”
Josephine whispered:
“Not exactly.”
My head snapped toward her.
“What does that mean?”
She took a breath.
“Your father left something behind.”
“What?”
“A genetic key.”
I stared at her.
“That makes no sense.”
“It does if you know what your father was hiding.”
Daniel suddenly slammed on the brakes.
The vehicle stopped so violently that I nearly dropped the baby.
“What the hell?”
Daniel pointed ahead.
A vehicle was blocking the road.
Black SUV.
My stomach dropped.
“Felicity.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
The driver's door opened.
A man stepped out.
He was older.
Gray hair.
Dark coat.
He stood completely still.
I couldn't breathe.
I knew that face.
I'd seen it in photographs.
I'd seen it in my childhood memories.
I'd seen it in the cemetery.
My hands started shaking.
“Dad?”
Josephine gasped.
The man looked directly at me.
Then at the baby in my arms.
His expression broke.
“Bennett.”
I couldn't move.
Thomas Carter walked toward us.
Alive.
My father.
The man I'd buried fifteen years ago.
The man I'd spent half my life mourning.
He stopped beside the vehicle.
“Give me my grandson.”
I stepped backward.
“No.”
His eyes hardened.
“Bennett, you don't understand.”
“Then explain.”
“You can't stay here.”
“Why?”
“Because they're coming.”
“Who?”
He looked at Josephine.
His expression changed.
“You brought her?”
I stepped between them.
“Don't look at her like that.”
My father stared at me.
“She should never have had those children.”
My blood boiled.
“What did you say?”
Josephine began crying.
I looked at her.
Then at my father.
“Why shouldn't she?”
Thomas said nothing.
“Answer me!”
He finally whispered:
“Because the twins carry something that can destroy everyone who is still alive.”
Silence.
I looked at the babies.
Then back at him.
“What do they carry?”
My father looked toward the road.
“Not here.”
“I'm not going anywhere with you.”
“Bennett.”
“You disappeared.”
“I was protecting you.”
“You let me believe you were dead!”
“I had no choice.”
“You let me bury you!”
My father looked down.
“I know.”
“You let Mom die alone.”
His expression collapsed.
“I couldn't save her.”
“Then who killed her?”
He looked at me.
And for the first time, I saw tears in my father's eyes.
“Your mother wasn't murdered because of me.”
“Then why?”
Thomas looked at Josephine.
“Because of her.”
Josephine froze.
I turned toward her.
“What?”
My father continued:
“Your mother discovered who Josephine's father really was.”
Josephine's face became white.
I stared at my father.
“Josephine's father?”
He nodded.
“Who is he?”
Thomas looked at Josephine.
“Tell him.”
She shook her head.
“Josephine.”
She began crying.
“My father was never the man I thought he was.”
“Who was he?”
She whispered:
“Your father's partner.”
My stomach dropped.
“What?”
“My father worked with Thomas.”
I stared at my father.
He said nothing.
Josephine continued.
“They built the network together.”
I looked at her.
“Then why didn't you ever tell me?”
“Because my father disappeared when I was six.”
“Where did he go?”
Josephine looked at Thomas.
“He went underground.”
My father closed his eyes.
I felt dizzy.
“Is he alive?”
Josephine didn't answer.
I already knew.
“Where is he?”
Thomas stepped toward me.
“Bennett, listen to me carefully.”
“No.”
“You need to understand something.”
“Where is Josephine's father?”
My father looked at the twins.
Then he said:
“Standing in front of you.”
My heart stopped.
I looked at Josephine.
She was shaking her head.
“No…”
Thomas looked at her.
“I'm sorry.”
I couldn't speak.
Josephine stared at him.
“My father?”
Thomas nodded.
She stumbled backward.
“You're lying.”
“No.”
“You're lying!”
“I was there the night you were born.”
Josephine covered her mouth.
I stared between them.
Everything I'd ever believed about my family was collapsing.
My father.
Josephine's father.
My mother's death.
Felicity.
The twins.
All connected.
Then Thomas reached inside his coat.
He pulled out a small metal key.
He handed it to me.
“Your mother left this for you.”
I stared at the key.
“What does it open?”
Thomas looked toward the horizon.
“A vault.”
“Where?”
“Under the house where you grew up.”
My blood ran cold.
“There's no vault under that house.”
“There is.”
“What's inside?”
My father hesitated.
Then whispered:
“The truth about your divorce.”
I looked at Josephine.
She was crying.
Thomas continued:
“And proof that Felicity wasn't the person who started this.”
Before I could ask anything else, a red laser dot appeared on my father's chest.
Daniel screamed:
“DOWN!”
I grabbed Josephine and pushed her to the ground.
A shot rang out.
My father fell.
“DAD!”
Blood spread across his coat.
Josephine screamed.
Daniel fired toward the trees.
Another shot.
Then another.
I crawled toward my father.
His hand grabbed mine.
“Bennett…”
“Stay with me!”
He coughed.
“Vault…”
“I'll get you to a hospital.”
“No.”
“Dad!”
His eyes locked onto mine.
“Don't go to a hospital.”
“Why?”
“Because…”
He struggled to breathe.
“Your doctor…”
I froze.
“My doctor?”
Thomas squeezed my hand.
“Your doctor works for them.”
Then his eyes closed.
I screamed his name.
Daniel grabbed me.
“Bennett, we have to go!”
I refused.
“My father is dying!”
“He's already been shot. If you stay here, you'll die too.”
Josephine pulled me back.
“Bennett!”
I looked at her.
She was holding the twins.
And then I noticed something.
The little girl wasn't crying anymore.
She was staring at my father's body.
In her tiny hand was something metallic.
A key.
I stared.
“Where did she get that?”
Josephine looked down.
Her face drained of color.
“I don't know.”
I took it carefully.
There was a number engraved on it.
17.
Daniel looked at it.
Then his expression changed completely.
“Bennett…”
“What?”
“That isn't a key to the vault.”
“What is it?”
Daniel stared at the twins.
“It's a key to a bank box.”
I frowned.
“Whose?”
Daniel's voice dropped.
“Your mother's.”
My phone suddenly vibrated.
A message from an unknown number appeared.
YOU HAVE TEN MINUTES.
Another message arrived.
GO TO THE CARTER HOUSE.
Then a final message.
BRING JOSEPHINE AND THE TWINS.
I stared at the screen.
And beneath it appeared one last sentence:
IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHO YOUR CHILDREN'S REAL FATHER IS, COME ALONE.
